CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Christmas

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has budgeted for Christmas decorations in 2009.

Si�n Simon: The Department has budgeted £560 for three Christmas trees.

Christmas

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many Christmas parties his Department plans to host in 2009; what has been budgeted for each such reception; what estimate he has made of the proportion of  (a) lamb,  (b) beef,  (c) chicken,  (d) pork,  (e) turkey,  (f) other meats,  (g) vegetables,  (h) fruit and  (i) alcohol to be served at each such function which is produced in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Si�n Simon: No plans have yet been made for Christmas parties in 2009.

Climate Change

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) civil servants from his Department will be attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in an official capacity.

Si�n Simon: No Ministers or civil servants from this Department are attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

Departmental Buildings

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has spent on interior decoration in each of the last three years.

Si�n Simon: The Department spent the following amounts on internal decoration in each of the last three years.
	
		
			  £ 
			 2008-09 14,391 
			 2007-08 84,767 
			 2006-07 (1)- 
			 (1) During this financial year the Department completed a full building refurbishment. It is not possible to separate the cost of internal decoration.

Departmental Lost Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many  (a) laptop computers,  (b) mobile telephones,  (c) items of office furniture and  (d) works of art have been (i) lost by and (ii) stolen from his Department in each of the last three years; whether his Department made an insurance claim in respect of each such item; and what the estimated value of each item was.

Si�n Simon: The information is as follows:
	 (a) My Department has not had any laptops lost or stolen in the last three financial years.
	 (b) The numbers of lost or stolen mobile phones for each of the last three financial years are:
	2006-07: One lost.
	2007-08: Four lost. Two stolen.
	2008-09: Two lost.
	Equipment is not insured. My Department does not record the value of lost mobile phones but as an indication the current replacement cost of a mobile phone is £195.
	 (c) My Department has not lost any items of office furniture lost or stolen in the last three financial years.
	 (d ) The numbers of lost or stolen works of art for each of the last three financial years are:
	2006-07: None.
	2007-08: Four lost. Two stolen, but since recovered.
	2008-09: Four lost.
	None of these items have been lost by the DCMS itself or stolen from DCMS buildings. At any one time approximately 70 per cent. of the Government art collection's holding of over 13,500 works of art is on display in over 400 buildings operated by different Government Departments in the UK and around the world.
	No insurance claim has been made for any of the lost items as none of them were commercially insured (HMG carries its own risk). The borrower's commercial insurance was in place for the two items stolen from Somerset House whilst on loan, in February 2008. DCMS did not take the payout because the two items were recovered by the police (in September 2008).
	Estimated valuations have not been provided in this answer. In common with other national collections, the Government art collection is normally not commercially insured nor treated as a financial asset. Against a background of constant and volatile fluctuations in the art market, current valuations of every work of art in the collection are not maintained.

Departmental Pay

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what  (a) bonuses and  (b) incentives have been paid to (i) consultants and (ii) contractors engaged by his Department in each of the last three years.

Si�n Simon: In the past three years the Department has paid £5,210.00 to a contractor who exceeded his service level and qualified for an incentive. No bonuses have been paid to either consultants or contractors engaged by the Department in the last three years.

Departmental Pay

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what  (a) bonuses and  (b) incentives have been paid to (i) consultants and (ii) contractors engaged by executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible in each of the last three years.

Si�n Simon: The Department does not hold any central records. To answer this question would incur disproportionate costs. Individual non-departmental public bodies and Executive agencies should be contacted directly as they are responsible for their own contractors.

Departmental Recycling

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what weight of paper his Department recycled in each of the last five years.

Si�n Simon: The Department recycled 47.29 tonnes of paper in 2008-09. In previous years the Department recorded only the total weight of recycled waste: the weight of recycled paper was not separately recorded.

Departmental Taxis

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has spent on taxis in 2008-09.

Si�n Simon: All official travel is undertaken in accordance with rules set out in the Department's Travel and Subsistence guidance and is consistent with the Civil Service Management Code.
	The Department's expenditure on taxis in 2008-09 was £32,179.
	This figure represents expenditure on taxis and black cabs which is separately identified in the Department's accounting system. In addition there is an element of this expenditure included in the general travel and subsistence account which can be identified only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Visits Abroad

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what expenditure his Department has incurred on  (a) international travel and  (b) overseas accommodation in respect of staff in each of the last three years.

Si�n Simon: All official travel is undertaken in accordance with rules set out in the Department's Travel and Subsistence guidance and is consistent with the Civil Service Management Code.
	Overall departmental expenditure for international travel and subsistence by officials from 2006-07 to 2008-09 is set out in the following table. To disaggregate travel and accommodation costs would incur disproportionate cost as these are not separately recorded on the Department's accounting system.
	
		
			  International travel and subsistence expenditure by officials 
			  Financial year  £ 
			 2008-09 234,100 
			 2007-08 250,550 
			 2006-07 297,830

Football

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many Premier League 4 Sport partnerships have so far been set up; and what assessment he has made of their impact.

Gerry Sutcliffe: To date, 20 Premier League 4 Sport partnerships have been set up comprising all of the football clubs competing in the 2008-09 Premier League season.
	Premier League 4 Sport activities began in September 2009. The scheme is a good example of partnership working which will contribute to our ambition of offering every young person five hours of high quality PE and sport per week. In particular, the scheme aims to help young people make the step from school sport into community clubs.
	Hall Aitken has been commissioned to evaluate this initiative. We expect to receive details about the numbers of young people who have been engaged in the first term of the scheme in January.

Sports: Television

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will publish the timetable for further steps to be taken in response to the David Davies Review of Listed Events.

Gerry Sutcliffe: We intend to publish shortly a formal Government consultation on the report's recommendations.

OLYMPICS

Departmental Legal Costs

Pete Wishart: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what the  (a) cost and  (b) purpose was of legal (i) representation and (ii) advice sought by her Department and its agencies in each year since May 1997.

Tessa Jowell: As my officials report to me through the permanent secretary of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the information requested is incorporated within the answer provided to the hon. Member by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

Government Olympic Executive: London Development Agency

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics whether the Government Olympic Executive has held discussions with the London Development Agency on altering the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between her and the former Mayor of London; and if she will make a statement.

Tessa Jowell: The Government Olympic Executive has not held any discussions with the London Development Agency about altering the terms of the memorandum of understanding between the Government and the Mayor of London on Olympic funding.

National Lottery: Grants

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics which community projects have received direct funding from the Olympic Lottery Distribution since its inception.

Tessa Jowell: The Olympic Lottery Distributor (OLD), which is an independent public body, publishes details of its grants in its annual report and on its website at www.olympiclotterydistributor.org.uk:
	http://www.olympiclotterydistributor.org.uk
	The OLD has to date not made any grants to community projects but it has plans to support community projects in the five Olympic boroughs. The OLD is in the process of developing a £4 million funding round for these purposes, with a view to inviting formal applications for grants in 2010.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Police

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many police stations in Northern Ireland have closed permanently in the last four years; and how many police personnel posts have been freed for other duties as a result of such closures in the same period.

Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Air Travel

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many domestic flights within Great Britain officials from his Department took in an official capacity in 2008-09; and at what cost to the public purse such flights were taken.

Ann McKechin: In 2008-09 officials in the Scotland Office took 231 domestic return flights within Great Britain at a total cost of £67,608.

Departmental Energy

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the  (a) energy rating and  (b) energy band of each building occupied by his Department and its agencies was in each year for which figures are available.

Ann McKechin: Dover House is required under the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 to have and display a copy of a display energy certificate. A copy of the certificate has been placed in the House Library. The regulations do not apply to our Edinburgh branch.

Unemployment

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the level of economic inactivity in Scotland.

Ann McKechin: The Secretary of State for Scotland has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, most recently on 17 November about the specific challenges of economic inactivity in Glasgow.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Climate Change

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) civil servants in her Department will be attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in an official capacity.

Jonathan R Shaw: There are no plans to include any DWP Ministers or officials in the delegation to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

State Retirement Pensions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will estimate the cost to the Exchequer of the payment of the full basic state pension to all those reaching the state retirement age in  (a) 2011-12,  (b) 2012-13,  (c) 2013-14 and  (d) 2014-15.

Angela Eagle: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

TRANSPORT

Departmental Air Travel

Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many domestic flights within Great Britain officials from his Department took in an official capacity in 2008-09; and at what cost to the public purse such flights were taken.

Chris Mole: This information is not recorded centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	All official travel is undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Service Management Code.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Greg Knight: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many vehicles have been given away by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency as prizes for motorists taxing their vehicles online in  (a) 2009 to date and  (b) the previous three calendar years; what has been the cost to the public purse of these prizes; and for what reasons such gifts are assessed to be necessary.

Paul Clark: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency introduced a prize draw for motorists taxing or declaring their vehicle off the road, either online or by telephone in July 2008.
	During 2008, 18 cars were awarded as prizes and 30 cars have been awarded so far this year. All the cars have been supplied free of charge by the manufacturer. There has been no cost to the public purse.
	The prize draw is part of a marketing strategy to increase awareness and use of the automated service and has helped raise take-up to 50 per cent. for tax discs due on 1 August 2009.

Railways: Franchises

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the answer of 5 November 2009,  Official Report, column 1103W, on railways: franchises, in which dispute in October 2006 the Department made a payment; and what the monetary value was of the payment.

Chris Mole: I refer my hon. Friend, to my answer of 10 November 2009,  Official Report, column 205W.

Stratford Station

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will publish the report commissioned by his Department from Oliver Wyman on the use of Stratford as a Eurostar station after 2012.

Chris Mole: The Oliver Wyman study was commissioned by Eurostar and not the Department for Transport. The Department is therefore not in a position to publish the study.
	The Government understands that Eurostar has considered the potential markets that could be served by Stratford International station and that no firm decision has been made on the use of this station for passenger services after 2012.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Belarus: Capital Punishment

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the government of Belarus on the death sentence passed on a young man in that country on 29 June 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Vasily Yuzepchuk and Andrei Zhuk have been sentenced to death in Belarus this year.
	We, and EU partners, have raised their cases with the Belarusian authorities on a number of occasions. We also took part in a European Commission press conference on 12 October 2009 to mark World Day Against the Death Penalty. EU member states are working with local and international non-governmental organisations to promote public debate, and publicise EU views on the death penalty.
	We continue to urge Belarus to abolish the death penalty or, as an initial measure, to introduce a moratorium. A moratorium would be beneficial for the development of EU-Belarus relations, and is a pre-requisite for enhanced relations with the Council of Europe. We have agreed with Spain that the death penalty will be one of four priority areas when the UK holds the local presidency on behalf of Spain in the first half of 2010.

China: Fur

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has had discussions with the Chinese authorities on the regulation of Chinese fur farms; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Given the very wide range of issues we pursue with China in our bilateral relationship, our ability to focus on animal welfare issues specifically with our Chinese counterparts is limited. However the UK has worked with our European partners to introduce an EU-wide ban on the trade in domestic cat and dog fur and products containing such fur, which came into force on 1 January 2009.
	We also welcome the work of organisations like the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Care for the Wild and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. These organisations work with the Chinese authorities to improve standards of animal welfare and to gradually build support for animal-welfare issues in China.
	We support work to raise standards of animal welfare at home and abroad and have played an active role in promoting good welfare standards internationally. However, we believe that it is for the authorities in each country to introduce and enforce the necessary legislation to promote good animal welfare in their countries.

Hanslope Park

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many members of staff are employed in each department at Hanslope Park.

Chris Bryant: There are 145 Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff at Hanslope Park, working in nine departments, as follows:
	
		
			  Department  Staff 
			 Change and Delivery 5 
			 Consular 2 
			 Change Unit 1 
			 Defence and Intelligence 1 
			 Finance 14 
			 Human Resources 40 
			 IT 68 
			 Security and Estates 14 
		
	
	There are also 605 FCO Services staff at Hanslope Park.

Hanslope Park

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions his Department has had with  (a) Milton Keynes Council and  (b) Hanslope Parish Council on future developments at Hanslope Park.

Ivan Lewis: Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials meet Milton Keynes Council as and when necessary, for example on planning issues. The most recent meetings have been discussions about a Green Travel Plan for staff based at Hanslope Park. There have been no recent meetings with Hanslope parish council.

Morocco: British Nationality

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the government of Morocco on the number of applications for citizenship it has received from  (a) citizens and  (b) residents of Morocco in the last 12 months.

Ivan Lewis: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not had any discussions with the Government of Morocco on citizenship applications in the last 12 months.

Nepal: Religious Freedom

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the incidence of religiously-motivated violence against Christians and Muslims in Nepal, with particular reference to the activities of the Nepal Defence Army; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Religiously motivated attacks against Christians and Muslims are rare in Nepal. However, the Nepal Defence Army (NDA), an extremist Hindu fundamentalist group, has carried out a number of attacks, including a bomb attack on a Catholic church in Kathmandu on 23 May 2009 in which three people were killed, the murder of a Catholic priest at Dharan in July 2008, and a bomb attack on a Muslim mosque in Biratnagar in March 2008, in which two people were killed.
	The Nepalese Prime Minister and political leaders from across the political spectrum swiftly condemned the attack in May and visited the church and the victims. The Nepal police launched a prompt investigation into the incident and have arrested both the women responsible for placing the bomb and four leaders of the NDA, including its chairman, R. P. Mainali.

Secret Intelligence Service: Security

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  how much the Secret Intelligence Service spent on security for  (a) Sir Richard Dearlove in the six months prior to September 1999,  (b) Sir John Sawers in the six months prior to November 2009 and  (c) Sir John Scarlett in the six months prior to May 2004;
	(2)  how much the Secret Intelligence Service spent on security for the families of  (a) Sir Richard Dearlove in the six months prior to September 1999,  (b) Sir John Sawers in the six months prior to November 2009 and  (c) Sir John Scarlett in the six months prior to May 2004;
	(3)  whether it put in place security measures to protect Sir John Sawers and his close family members as a result of his identification on the internet.

David Miliband: It is the long standing policy of the Government not to comment on the personal security arrangements for individual members of Secret Intelligence Staff and their families.

Western Sahara: Landmines

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the answer of 11 November 2009,  Official Report, column 548W, on Western Sahara: landmines, whether the Moroccan authorities are marking and disposing of mines and unexploded ordinance in the occupied territory of Western Sahara.

Ivan Lewis: In his report of 13 April 2009, the Secretary-General of the UN detailed Moroccan efforts to destroy mines, unexploded ordnance and expired ammunition.
	The Royal Moroccan Army reported to the UN Secretary-General that its de-mining units had processed 420 square kilometres between 1 May 2008 and 28 February 2009 as part of a comprehensive mine clearance operation in Western Sahara, west of the Berm.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Audit Commission

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he has made an assessment of the value for money of the fees charged by the Audit Commission for auditing the annual accounts of town and parish councils; and if he will make a statement.

Barbara Follett: We have made no such assessment. It is for the independent Audit Commission, after consultation, to set the fees charged by them for auditing the annual accounts of town and parish councils.

Departmental Correspondence

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of answering Questions 292544 to 292558, 292572 to 292585, 292587 to 292595, 292615 to 292635, 292637, 292639 to 292645, 292663, 292664, 292690 to 292708, 292710 to 292714, 292723, 292725 to 292735, 292737 to 292740, 292742 to 292750, 292752 to 292757, 292802 to 292827, 292839 to 292861, 292863, 292865 to 292899, 292975 to 292978, 292983 to 293005, 293010, 293015, 293020 to 293028, 293031, 293032 and 293035 tabled on 9 October 2009 by the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) for written answer on 13 October 2009.

Barbara Follett: The average cost of answering a written question is £149, as set out in the written ministerial statement made by the former Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Angela Eagle) on 8 December 2008,  Official Report, column 24WS. The estimated cost of answering the 250 questions tabled by the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 9 October 2009 would therefore be £37,250.

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many of his Department's officials have  (a) been reprimanded,  (b) had their contract of employment terminated and  (c) been prosecuted for theft of departmental property in each of the last three years; and what items were stolen in each case.

Barbara Follett: No departmental officials have been reprimanded, had their contract of employment terminated or been prosecuted for theft of departmental property in any of the previous three years.

Departmental Pay

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of local government employees earn more than £50,000 per annum.

Barbara Follett: The information requested is not held centrally.

Departmental Pay

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) year end and  (b) in year bonuses were paid to officials in his Department in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08; how many in year bonuses were paid in 2008-09; and how much was paid out in bonuses in each year.

Barbara Follett: The following table shows the number of year end performance bonuses that were paid to staff in Communities and Local Government over the last three years.
	
		
			  Category of Employee  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Senior Civil Service (SCS) 83 104 102 
			 All staff below SCS 301 391 570 
			 Total Cost (£) 838,250 1,018,350 1,284,547 
		
	
	The Department also has a Special Bonus Scheme to reward exceptional performance in particularly demanding tasks or situations. The maximum bonus under these arrangements is £600 but records are not yet available to show the number of in-year payments made under this scheme.

Departmental Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) laptop computers,  (b) mobile telephones,  (c) items of office furniture and  (d) works of art have been (i) lost by and (ii) stolen from his Department in each of the last three years; whether his Department has made an insurance claim against each such item; and what the estimated value of each item was.

Barbara Follett: The following table identifies the number of laptops and mobile phones that have been reported lost or stolen from this Department in each of the last three years, together with the approximate value of each item.
	
		
			   Stolen  Value (£)  Lost  Value (£) 
			  Lap top computers 
			 2006-07 7 2,100 0 0 
			 2007-08 9 5,600 0 0 
			 2008-09 5 1,500 0 0 
			  Mobile phones 
			 2006-07  300 1 200 
			 2007-08 2 200 0 0 
			 2008-09 1 100 2 100 
		
	
	The Department has not had any items of office furniture or works of art stolen or lost in this period nor has it made any insurance claim for any item referenced.

Fire Prevention

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent research his Department has  (a) commissioned,  (b) funded and  (c) undertaken on fire safety in rented properties; and if he will make a statement.

Shahid Malik: We have not commissioned, funded or undertaken any research specifically on rented properties. Various projects in the fire and resilience research programme have included rented accommodation along with other types of premises, e.g.:
	Cost-effectiveness of sprinklers in high risk buildings
	Cost-effectiveness of sprinklers for offsetting fire cover for new homes
	An evaluation of the Fire Safety Order.

Government Hospitality Unit

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many functions his Department has hosted in each of the last three years; and at which such functions the services of the Government Hospitality Unit were provided.

Barbara Follett: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Housing: Heating

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new domestic dwellings which use  (a) electricity and  (b) gas as their primary source of heat have been built since 1997.

Ian Austin: Information on primary heat source is not available for dwellings built since 1997. The English House Condition Survey provides an estimate for the main fuel type used in all housing built after 1990. The survey estimates that in 2007 there were 2,531,000 dwellings that had been built after 1990, of which 2,149,000 (84.9 per cent.) used gas as their main fuel and 264,000 (10.4 per cent.) used electricity. Virtually all other post-1990 dwellings used oil.

Housing: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new houses were completed in Milton Keynes unitary authority in each of the last 12 months.

Ian Austin: Information on house building completions is collected quarterly, and is not available on a monthly basis.
	The following table shows the number of houses completed in Milton Keynes unitary authority in each of the last four quarters.
	
		
			  House building completions in Milton Keynes unitary authority 
			  Quarter  Completions 
			 2008  
			 October to December 358 
			 2009  
			 January to March 308 
			 April to June 325 
			 July to September 567 
			  Source:  New build completions from P2 quarterly returns submitted by local authorities and the National House-Building Council to CLG.

Housing: Prices

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 5 November 2009,  Official Report, column 1124W, on house prices, by what means his Department establishes a 1991 sale price for a newly constructed property in Yate, South Gloucestershire for council tax banding purposes.

Barbara Follett: In England, the Valuation Office Agency is responsible for ascribing a property to a council tax band, based on its expected sale price on 1 April 1991. Therefore, a property built in 2009 would be banded for council tax by reference to: (1) sales of newly built properties of a similar size, character and location that were sold on or around 1 April 1991: (2) the council tax band of similar tax band of similar properties already on the list: (3) the outcomes of any proposals made by tax payers on similar properties in the area: (4) any Valuation Tribunal decision affecting similar properties in the locality

Local Government: Pay

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was paid in salary and wage costs for local government employees in the last 12 months; and what estimate he has made of the proportion paid to such employees who earn more than £50,000 per annum.

Barbara Follett: In the latest year for which figures are available, 2007-08, total pay including employers National Insurance and Pensions contributions for all local government staff including teachers, police and fire fighters, was £58.8 billion. Further information is available from:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/pdf/1240028.pdf
	No estimate has been made of the proportion paid to employees who earn £50,000 per annum. This information is not collected centrally.

Planning Permission: Appeals

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the written ministerial statement on 30 June 2008,  Official Report, columns 43-44WS on planning appeals, what guidance he has issued to  (a) Government offices and  (b) local authorities on the reasons for which a residential development of over 150 units might be considered to have an impact sufficiently significant to instigate a recovery of a planning appeal by the Secretary of State.

Ian Austin: As the power to recover planning appeals rests with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, and is exercised on his behalf by the Planning Inspectorate (PINS), no such guidance has been issued or is necessary.

Planning Permission: Appeals

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many times he has exercised his powers to recover a planning appeal under section 79 and paragraph 3 of Schedule 6 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in each year since 2005.

Ian Austin: The following table sets out the number of times the powers under section 79 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 have been exercised in England to recover appeals made under section 78 of that Act for decision by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The figures relate to calendar years.
	
		
			   Total 
			 2005 228 
			 2006 166 
			 2007 123 
			 2008 104 
			 2009 (to 30 September) 32

Temporary Accommodation

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households in each London local authority were placed in temporary accommodation in each other London local authority area in 2008.

Ian Austin: Information about English local housing authorities' actions under homelessness legislation is collected quarterly at local authority level. Data collected include the number of applicants accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty (to secure that suitable accommodation is available). If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority must secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available.
	Data collected on temporary accommodation include the number of households placed in temporary accommodation by each London local authority at the end of each quarter, including the number housed in a different local authority district. However, information on which different local authority area these households were housed in is not held centrally.
	The following table shows the number of households in temporary accommodation in each London borough on 30 June 2009, and of those the number which were housed in another local authority district:
	
		
			  London local authority  Number in temporary accommodation  Of which :  in another LA district 
			 Barking and Dagenham 611 0 
			 Barnet 2,305 52 
			 Bexley 217 94 
			 Brent 3,549 266 
			 Bromley 550 36 
			 Camden 890 399 
			 City of London 19 19 
			 Croydon 1,444 0 
			 Ealing 1,736 41 
			 Enfield 2,849 5 
			 Greenwich 229 43 
			 Hackney 1,515 14 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,015 303 
			 Haringey 4,403 1,032 
			 Harrow 645 0 
			 Havering 545 (1)- 
			 Hillingdon 1,150 0 
			 Hounslow 826 90 
			 Islington 861 287 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 1,005 810 
			 Kingston upon Thames 654 (1)- 
			 Lambeth 1,779 501 
			 Lewisham 1,639 24 
			 Merton 77 3 
			 Newham 4,326 1,558 
			 Redbridge 2,524 181 
			 Richmond upon Thames 192 25 
			 Southwark 873 94 
			 Sutton 238 21 
			 Tower Hamlets 2,376 418 
			 Waltham Forest 1,631 160 
			 Wandsworth 677 64 
			 Westminster 2,394 703 
			 (1) Data not reported.

Tenants: Deposits

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has plans to alter the threshold for the tenant deposit protection scheme.

Ian Austin: The Government's response to the Review of the Private Rented Sector, published for consultation in May, announced our intention to review the annual rental threshold for assured and assured shorthold tenancies. This threshold currently excludes tenancies with annual rents of more than £25,000 from being assured shorthold tenancies, with the implication that any deposits taken do not have to be protected under the tenancy deposit protection scheme. The consultation closed in August. We have been considering the responses received and plan to publish the results shortly.

Tenants: Deposits

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his most recent estimate is of the number of tenants in houses of multiple occupation whose deposits are not protected under the tenancy deposit scheme.

Ian Austin: Over 1.6 million deposits for tenants with assured shorthold tenancies have been protected since tenancy deposit protection provisions commenced in April 2007. We do not hold figures on the proportion or number of deposits that are unprotected.

TREASURY

Business: Billing

Anne Moffat: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effect on small businesses of the time to pay measures.

Stephen Timms: The Business Payment Support Service was launched on 24 November 2008 to support viable businesses in temporary financial difficulties. Up to 15 November 2009, the service has agreed over 231,600 time to pay arrangements with businesses to spread tax payments of £4.07 billion.
	This has helped to support over 150,000 businesses, the vast majority of whom are small and medium sized, that employ an estimated 600,000 people. Over 90 per cent. of the value of arrangements is being paid in line with agreed instalments.
	Businesses tell us that they have found the service very helpful by giving them the breathing space they need and by helping them pay their tax bills in a managed and structured way with the full help and support of HM Revenue and Customs.

Corporation Tax: Credit Unions

Bob Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the levying of corporation tax on credit unions; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: As industrial and provident societies, credit unions are liable to corporation tax as any other company but subject to specific exemptions under section 486 and 487 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988. This legislation provides that the principal activity carried out by a credit union, namely making loans to its members, is not liable for corporation tax. However, credit unions are liable on their investment income and any chargeable gains arising.

Corporation Tax: Credit Unions

Bob Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was paid in corporation tax by credit unions in each of the last five financial years; and how much he estimates will be paid  (a) 2009-10 and  (b) 2010-11.

Stephen Timms: The figures requested are not available because it is not possible to identify credit unions from other credit providers through corporation tax records.

Taxation: Holiday Accommodation

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department carried out a regulatory impact assessment on new tax rules for furnished holiday lettings included in the Budget 2009.

Stephen Timms: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik) on 12 October 2009,  Official Report, column 263W.

VAT

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to complete the review of the de minimis rules on value added tax; and when any changes to the rules will be announced.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) consulted on proposals to simplify the VAT Partial Exemption and Capital Goods Scheme rules in summer 2008, as part of the wider VAT simplification review. That consultation included the de minimis rules.
	Responses to the consultation confirmed widespread support for taking this work forward over a three-year period, focusing on the standard method for partial exemption in 2008-09, the de minimis rules and non-business interaction in 2009-10 and the Capital Goods Scheme in 2010-11. The consultation and a summary of the responses, entitled: Simplifying the Value Added Tax Partial Exemption and Capital Goods Scheme Rules, are available on HMRC's website.
	In line with the responses, changes to simplify the standard method were introduced on 1 April 2009. HMRC is currently working on the 2009-10 programme, which includes the de minimis rules, and hopes to announce any changes arising from this work early next year.

VAT: Health Services

Mark Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether  (a) pharmacy contractors and  (b) appliance contractors are zero rated for value added tax when supplying products and service on NHS Form F.P.10; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: When they are dispensed to an individual for their personal use, by a registered pharmacist, against a prescription issued by a doctor, dentist, or certain other health professionals with prescribing rights (whether on form FP 10 or otherwise), most drugs and medicines are zero-rated for VAT. There is no similar zero rate for goods supplied against a prescription by appliance contractors, although zero-rating may apply to certain goods supplied by such contractors to disabled people for their personal use, or to charities for use by disabled people, without a prescription.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Ann Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of nutrition provided to troops in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 11 November 2009,  Official Report, column 399W, to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne).

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of enemy losses in Helmand province in the last 12 months.

Bob Ainsworth: The UK does not routinely collate or maintain an overall estimate of the number of insurgents killed in Afghanistan. The long-term strategy for defeating the insurgency in Afghanistan is not as a purely military campaign, but rather through a wide range of military and non-military activities. Therefore, the number of insurgents killed or injured during the campaign does not provide a useful measure of success.

Aircraft Carriers

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what overseas dockyards have been considered by his Department as potential support locations for the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers.

Quentin Davies: The in-service support solution for the Queen Elizabeth (QE) class aircraft carriers has yet to reach its main investment decision point, and so no decision has yet been taken on this issue. All options for QE class docking will be thoroughly examined; this will include potential location and commercial options for docking work. While overseas locations have not been ruled out, given the nature of these ships and security issues, it is unlikely that this would provide the best solution.

Armed Forces: Housing

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the answer of 10 November 2009,  Official Report, column 223W, on armed forces: housing, what the average monthly rent under the substitute service single accommodation scheme was in each post code area in Greater London in the latest period for which figures are available; what the  (a) maximum and  (b) minimum amount paid in rent in each such area was; how many personnel at each (i) staff officer rank and (ii) equivalent Civil Service payband were accommodated under the scheme in that period; and how much was paid out under the scheme in that period.

Kevan Jones: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) currently rents 1,113 Substitute Service Single Accommodation (SSSA) properties in Greater London to accommodate 1,330 Service personnel. The following tables include all SSSA properties within each postcode area. Details of average, maximum and minimum rents, together with the total monthly rent for all SSSA properties as at 20 November is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Postcode  Number of properties  Highest (£)  Lowest (£)  Average (£)  Total monthly rent (£) 
			 BR 5 1,248 780 973 4,862.75 
			 CR 8 969 700 783.05 6,264.40 
			 DA 2 1,101 990 1,046 2,091.05 
			 E 204 2,202 805 1,392.08 283,985.24 
			 EC 9 1,687 1,100 1,309.69 11,787.17 
			 EN 1 1,025 1,025 1,025 1,025.00 
			 HA 8 1,425 575 1,006.88 8,055.00 
			 IG 4 1,198 770 987.65 3,950.60 
			 KT 18 1,460 675 1,004.73 18,085.20 
			 N 25 1,845 875 1,271.87 31,796.84 
			 NW 60 2,150 950 1,460.33 87,620.02 
			 RM 5 1,000 742 828.43 4,142.17 
			 SE 173 2,513 675 1,281.68 221,730.11 
			 SM 2 764 675 719.35 1,438.70 
			 SW 460 3,275 725 1,347.70 619,943.95 
			 TW 53 2,050 725 1,102.01 58,406.75 
			 UB 1 775 775 775 775 
			 W 70 2,192 730 1,214.31 85,001.76 
			 WC 1 1,517 1,517 1,516.67 1,516.67 
			 WD 4 1,915 725 1,053.70 4,214.79 
		
	
	The ranks of the personnel currently occupying these properties is shown in the following table. SSSA is provided to entitled, Serving Armed Forces personnel in cases where Single Living Accommodation either does not exist or is not available at or close to their permanent duty station. SSSA is not available to civilian personnel.
	
		
			  Postcode  Rear Admiral/Major General/Air Vice Marshall and above  Commodore/Brigadier/Air Commodore  Captain/  Colonel/Group Captain  Commander/  Lieutenant Colonel/Major/  Wing Commander/  Squadron Leader  Other junior officers  Chief Petty Officer/Warrant Officer/Staff Sergeant/Flight Sergeant  Leading Rating/Corporal and below 
			 BR 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 
			 CR 0 0 0 0 0 7 1 
			 DA 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 
			 E 0 2 8 66 10 96 108 
			 EC 0 0 0 2 1 8 3 
			 EN 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 
			 HA 1 0 0 1 0 5 ! 
			 IG 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 
			 KT 0 0 2 6 3 7 1 
			 N 0 0 0 11 7 10 3 
			 NW 0 0 1 30 6 30 12 
			 RM 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 
			 SE 4 1 12 99 11 56 17 
			 SM 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 
			 SW 9 27 61 330 65 22 10 
			 TW 1 1 3 19 1 27 5 
			 UB 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 W 1 3 7 31 11 18 4 
			 WC 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 
			 WD 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 
			 Total 16 34 95 600 115 299 171

Armed Forces: Housing

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many requests for repair call-outs were received by Modern Housing Solutions in each region in each of the last 12 months.

Kevan Jones: The number of repair jobs raised in the last 12 months as a result of calls to Modern Housing Solutions (MHS) is provided in the table.
	
		
			   Zone 
			   East  London  North  South East  South West  West  Total 
			 November 2008 2,833 3,285 2,617 4,433 5,062 1,532 19,762 
			 December 2008 2,424 2,962 2,152 4,123 4,600 1,367 17,628 
			 January 2009 3,137 4,017 2,778 5,758 6,469 2,204 24,363 
			 February 2009 2,658 3,024 2,221 4,236 4,916 1,463 18,518 
			 March 2009 2,759 3,228 2,346 4,714 5,477 1,630 20,154 
			 April 2009 2,339 2,722 2,121 4,058 5,023 1,325 17,588 
			 May 2009 2,510 2,610 1,945 3,989 4,627 1,411 17,092 
			 June 2009 3,123 2,819 2,085 4,148 4,670 1,336 18,181 
			 July 2009 3,318 3,044 2,401 4,575 5,048 1,514 19,900 
			 August 2009 2,531 2,787 2,118 4,464 5,092 1,668 18,660 
			 September 2009 2,953 3,300 2,457 4,790 5,566 1,560 20,626 
			 October 2009 3,212 3,481 2,560 5,043 5,732 1,644 21,672 
		
	
	MHS provide a comprehensive repair and maintenance service to occupants of service family accommodation in England and Wales. Repair requests range from emergencies such as burst water pipes to routine tasks associated with the everyday wear and tear of domestic occupation. Figures also include work orders raised in relation to communal areas, children's playgrounds and other facilities managed by MHS.

Armed Forces: Pay

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of armed forces personnel earn more than £50,000 per annum.

Kevan Jones: At 1 September 2009, there were 14,430 personnel earning more than £50,000 per annum in gross basic pay, including X Factor but excluding allowances, which represents 8.5 per cent. of trained UK Regular Armed Forces personnel.

Armed Forces: Pay

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was paid in salary and wage costs for armed forces personnel in the last 12 months; and what estimate he has made of the proportion paid to such personnel who earn more than £50,000 per annum.

Kevan Jones: For Financial Year 2008-09 the total bill for basic gross pay for Regular and Reserve forces, including X Factor but excluding allowances, was £5,928,226,958.00.
	An estimated total of £934,300,000.00 (15.76 per cent. of total basic pay) was paid to those personnel earning more than £50,000 per annum.

Climate Change

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) civil servants from his Department will be attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in an official capacity.

Kevan Jones: The Department of Energy and Climate Change will determine the official UK delegation list. This list is not finalised, but at present does not contain any MOD Ministers or officials.
	Nevertheless, the MOD takes the issue of climate change seriously and recognises the importance of achieving a strong international agreement to address climate change, which will also be of benefit for future global stability and security. In December 2008 the MOD published a climate change strategy, which can be found online at:
	www.mod.uk

Defence: Procurement

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the stages were of the procurement process for the new sniper rifle sight recently deployed by the army.

Quentin Davies: The original requirement was for a number of Sniper Thermal Imaging Capability (STIC) systems as an Urgent Operational Requirement. This was advertised in the Defence Contracts Bulletin and eight companies expressed an interest. Five companies were unable to meet the key requirement to provide a thermal device that would work in line with the in-service day sight, and a further two companies could not supply equipment in time for user trials. The remaining company's equipment was trialled, modified in the light of the trials results and a contract for the supply of STIC was agreed with Qioptiq Ltd. in March 2008. Since the initial contract further STIC units have been ordered from the company. The Sniper Thermal Imaging Capability was introduced into service in July 2008.

Departmental Empty Property

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many properties owned by his Department had been unused for  (a) under three,  (b) between three and six,  (c) between six and 12,  (d) between 12 and 24 and  (e) between 24 and 36 months on the latest date for which figures are available; and how many such properties had been unused for over five years on that date.

Kevan Jones: The requested information is not held in the format requested and is not held centrally. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Ministry of Defence keeps its estate in Great Britain, around 240,000 hectares, under continual review to ensure that it is no larger than is required for defence purposes. Land and property may be used temporarily, or be vacant for periods, for many reasons and no central record is maintained.

Departmental Marketing

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on advertising in the last 12 months.

Kevan Jones: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 October 2009,  Official Report, column 34W.

Investment Approvals Board

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what programmes the Investment Approvals Board has under consideration; and by what date the Board is expected to make its determination in each case.

Bob Ainsworth: The Investment Approvals Board considers all major investment projects undertaken by the Department both out of committee and at its meetings. The board sets no rigid timetable; cases are considered once they are sufficiently mature.

Territorial Army: Finance

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he made of the likely effect on Territorial Army training of the original £20 million reduction in the Territorial Army budget made in the current financial year.

Bill Rammell: The effect of the £20 million reduction in Territorial Army activity this year was to suspend the majority of training activity that was not directly supporting preparations for Operations. Following the Defence Secretary's subsequent announcement on 28 October 2009,  Official Report, column 353, an additional £20 million has been provided to enable routine Territorial Army activity to continue for the remainder of the year. Commanding Officers have been revising their training plans to reflect this clear direction.

HEALTH

Antibiotics

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on each brand of antibiotics in each primary care trust area in  (a) 2007 and  (b) 2008.

Phil Hope: The net ingredient cost by brand of drug for each primary care trust, in the period specified, has been placed in the Library.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 5 November 2009,  Official Report, column 1165W, on chronic fatigue syndrome, what discussions his Department has had with myalgic encephalomyelitis charities and campaign groups on recognition of the condition as a notifiable disease.

Ann Keen: Since 2007, the Department of Health has received a large number of requests from many organisations, including chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) stakeholders, campaigning for their disease or condition to be recognised as a notifiable disease. The Department's position remains that this classification should be used only for a relatively small number of infectious diseases where monitoring is required to identify sources of infection, and not as a means for collecting statistical information on the prevalence of specific conditions.
	We have had no recent discussions with CFS/ME charities or campaign groups on this issue.

Health: Screening

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health checks for those aged between 40 and 74 years were carried out by general practitioners in  (a) 2007 and  (b) 2008.

Ann Keen: The NHS Health Check programme is a systematic programme that assesses all those eligible between the ages of 40 and 74 for their risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease. The aim is to identify people's risk of these diseases earlier and support them to reduce their risk through lifestyle changes, such as smoking cessation or weight management programme, or through clinical management such as prescribing statins.
	Primary care trusts began phased implementation of the NHS Health Check programme in April 2009. General practitioners were not, therefore, carrying out NHS health checks before then. Prior to this, some primary care trusts did have similar programmes in place that general practitioners were involved in. However, we do not collect information centrally about these.

Hepatitis

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what responsibility  (a) his Department,  (b) strategic health authorities,  (c) NHS hospital trusts and  (d) primary care trusts have for implementing the Hepatitis C Action Plan for England; what recent assessment he has made of progress in the implementation of the Plan; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Department has set a national framework in the Hepatitis C Action Plan for England (2004) for the national health service and other key stakeholders to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C. A copy has already been placed in the Library. Primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for implementing the action plan at the local level and commissioning services from NHS hospital trusts and others according to local needs and priorities. Strategic health authorities are responsible for seeing that appropriate local NHS arrangements are in place to meet the objectives of the action plan.
	The NHS has made significant progress in implementing the Action Plan. For example, the Association of Greater Manchester PCTs is funding a local hepatitis C strategy to improve and co-ordinate local services. NHS East Midlands has developed a regional hepatitis C strategy overseen by a regional multi-agency group. The Department has supported implementation of the Action Plan since 2004 with an ongoing national hepatitis C awareness campaign for healthcare professionals and the public.
	Surveillance of hepatitis C testing, diagnosis and prescribing indicates that more patients with hepatitis C are being tested, diagnosed and treated.

Mobile Phones: Health Hazards

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department plans to revise its leaflet on mobile telephones and health.

Gillian Merron: The Department does not intend to change the leaflet on mobile telephones and health. The advice given to the public remains as in our current leaflet on mobile phones, which can be viewed on the Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4123979
	and companion leaflet on base stations at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4123980
	Copies of both leaflets have been placed in the Library.
	The Department keeps these leaflets under review.

North Central London Service and Organisational Review

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what targets have been set in relation to the savings to be made as a consequence of the North Central London Service and Organisational Review; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what timetable has been set for the public consultation on the North Central London Service and Organisational Review; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: These are matters for the local national health service.

Pregnancy: Influenza

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will make it his policy to ensure that Celvapan will be made available to pregnant women who have declined to be vaccinated with Pandemrix;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to ensure that  (a) Pandemrix and  (b) Celvapan are made available to pregnant women by primary care trusts.

Gillian Merron: Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to complications should they get swine flu and so the Department strongly recommends that pregnant women should have the vaccine. Health care staff have been given the extensive information to provide to their patients about the vaccine, how it will protect them and how it has been tested to ensure safety. This information is available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/swinefluvaccinetools
	The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has recommended that pregnant women should be given Pandemrix since a one-dose schedule with this vaccine appears to give adequate levels of antibodies and thereby confers more rapid protection than would be afforded by a two-dose schedule. Expert scientific advice is clear that thiomersal-containing vaccines, such as Pandemrix, do not present a risk to pregnant women or their offspring. However, as it is better to be vaccinated than not at all, if a pregnant woman does not wish to receive Pandemrix despite receiving clear advice about the more rapid protection this would offer, we have advised that primary care trusts should ensure that there are arrangements in place for the woman to be able to receive Celvapan, and that general practitioners are aware of these.

Swine Flu: Vaccination

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent estimate is of the number of  (a) children,  (b) adults aged between 18 and 65 years and  (c) older people who (i) have and (ii) have not been vaccinated against swine influenza in (A) England and (B) each county and metropolitan area.

Gillian Merron: At this stage, no national health service wide data are available on the uptake of swine flu vaccinations given either by general practitioners (GPs) to priority groups or by trusts to frontline health and social care workers.
	The Department plans to release NHS-wide vaccine uptake data on a regular basis both for vaccinations administered by GPs to priority groups and by trusts to frontline health and social care workers once these data have been collected, collated and validated. We anticipate that data will be available for publication in December 2009.

Townlands Hospital

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the timetable for re-development of Townlands Hospital in Henley-on-Thames is; what funding will be allocated to ensure its completion; and what risk assessment has been undertaken in relation to future revenue funding for the hospital.

Phil Hope: This information is not collected centrally. Planning for services is a matter for the local national health service.

Whittington Hospital

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether all of the proposals made to the North Central London Service and Organisation Review include the Whittington Hospital, Islington, having a  (a) 24 hour accident and emergency unit and  (b) full intensive care unit; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: This is a matter for the local national health service.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

United Nations: Females

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans there are to consult civil society organisations on the structure and mandate of the new single UN agency for women.

Michael Foster: The UK Government have worked tirelessly alongside groups such as the Gender Equality Architecture Reform Campaign (GEAR) for the General Assembly agreement on a single United Nations agency for women.
	The current task is to make this agency a reality. We are continuing to consult GEAR members and other civil society groups such as the Gender and Development Network (GAD), Women's National Commission (WNC) and United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) UK in this task. Consultations with civil society groups on the structure and mandate of the new agency will continue as the negotiations go on in the General Assembly.

United Nations: Females

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions his Department has had with the UN Secretary General on the appointment of an Under Secretary General to head the new single UN agency for women; when he expects that post to be filled; and if he will request the UN Secretary General to adopt the selection criteria presented to him by the Gender Equality Architecture Reform coalition.

Michael Foster: The UK Government have been in regular contact with the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General's office in recent months about the appointment of the Under-Secretary-General to head the new gender agency. We are pressing for an appointment to be made before the Beijing +15 review in March 2010.
	The UK, along with other member states, is encouraging the Secretary-General to adopt an open and transparent recruitment process that will select the best candidate for the job against agreed criteria, and to encourage as strong a field of candidates as possible.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Cast Iron: Manufacturing Industries

Malcolm Wicks: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the  (a) supply and  (b) quality of cast iron for use in UK industry.

Ian Lucas: We have made no such assessments. The foundry sector has reduced in size slightly in recent years as most basic iron casting work is now carried out by producers in low cost countries such as China. However, the UK does have a number of successful castings companies concentrating on higher value-added products for use in a wide range of technically-demanding applications including aerospace, oil, gas and power generation. The quality of these products is regarded as world-class and the UK also benefits from a leading R and D organisation, Castings Technology International.
	The castings sector has faced serious challenges as a result of the economic downturn and although this has resulted in some short time working and redundancies, particularly amongst companies supplying the automotive and construction sectors, a recent recovery in order books has left many foundries in a better shape than they might otherwise have been.

Company Liquidations

Michael Weir: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many liquidations commenced in each of the last five years.

Ian Lucas: The number of liquidations started in each of the last five years is given in the following table.
	
		
			   Total liquidations  Compulsory liquidations  Creditors voluntary liquidations 
			 2004 12,192 4,584 7,608 
			 2005 12,893 5,233 7,660 
			 2006 13,137 5,418 7,719 
			 2007 12,507 5,165 7,342 
			 2008 15,535 5,494 10,041 
			 2009(1) (to end September) 14,705 4,328 10,377 
		
	
	This information has been taken from the Insolvency Services' Official Statistics for Company Liquidations, which are available on their website at:
	http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/otherinformation/statistics/historicdata/CompanyLiquidations.xls

Departmental Contracts for Services

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer of 9 September 2009,  Official Report, column 2070W, on departmental pay, in respect of staff employed in London working for his Department on contracted out services, what the name was of each employer, including in respect of contracts that have been sub-let and business that has been awarded where the contract is not exclusive to London; what the nature was of the work undertaken on each contract; how many staff of each grade were employed at each location on each contract; what the length was of the contract in each case; and what union recognition agreements are in place with each contractor.

Patrick McFadden: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Internet

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people took part in paid market research to improve the Department's website at the end of October 2009; and how much each person was paid to take part in such research.

Patrick McFadden: 31 people took part in a series of focus groups. Each participant was paid £60. A number of BIS staff were also involved in this phase of research, but none received payment.
	Eight people took part in a series of one-to-one sessions. Each was paid £50.
	The rates paid in both phases are in line with industry standards, as recommended by the research agency.

Departmental Internet

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will publish the results of the paid market research undertaken at the end of October 2009 to improve the Department's website; and what changes  (a) have been and  (b) are planned to be made to the website as a consequence of that research.

Patrick McFadden: The research is being used to inform the design of the new BIS website, due to be launched in March 2010.
	The results of the research are currently being analysed, so no changes have yet been made or planned.
	A summary of the research results will be published once the analysis phase has been completed.

Higher Education: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many applicants from  (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and  (b) the London Borough of Bexley did not get a place at university in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10.

David Lammy: The information is not held centrally.

Higher Education: Historic Buildings

Frank Field: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer of 9 November 2009,  Official Report, columns 169-170W on higher education: historic buildings, how much each university received from the Higher Education Funding Council for England to support old and historic buildings under the fixed targeted allocation in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The allocations for 2008/09 are as follows.
	
		
			   £ 
			 Anglia Ruskin University 150,865 
			 Aston University 34,813 
			 Bath Spa University 155,009 
			 University of Bedfordshire 50,742 
			 Birkbeck College 205,137 
			 University of Birmingham 698,531 
			 Birmingham City University 158,161 
			 Bishop Grosseteste University College, Lincoln 494,810 
			 University of Bolton 30,699 
			 University of Bradford 302,600 
			 University of Brighton 228,506 
			 University of Bristol 1,135,401 
			 Brunel University 320,565 
			 Buckinghamshire New University 35,436 
			 University of Cambridge 4,270,947 
			 Institute of Cancer Research 21,394 
			 Canterbury Christ Church University 48,165 
			 University of Central Lancashire 627,542 
			 Central School of Speech and Drama 41,238 
			 University of Chester 283,340 
			 University of Chichester 313,917 
			 City University, London 345,319 
			 University of Cumbria 285,380 
			 De Montfort University 1,107,332 
			 University of Derby 63,258 
			 University of Durham 707,072 
			 University of East London 274,773 
			 Institute of Education 96,734 
			 University of Essex 18,304 
			 University College Falmouth 136,563 
			 University of Gloucestershire 230,874 
			 Goldsmiths College, University of London 452,165 
			 University of Greenwich 346,048 
			 Harper Adams University College 87,533 
			 University of Huddersfield 248,311 
			 University of Hull 112,822 
			 Imperial College London 899,310 
			 Keele University 69,472 
			 University of Kent 36,704 
			 King's College London 2,213,335 
			 University of Leeds 1,316,567 
			 Leeds Metropolitan University 557,416 
			 University of Leicester 361,144 
			 University of Lincoln 25,854 
			 University of Liverpool 1,315,922 
			 Liverpool John Moores University 709,723 
			 University of the Arts London 694,911 
			 University of London 48,190 
			 London Business School 10,862 
			 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine 11,385 
			 London Metropolitan University 138,028 
			 London South Bank University 205,797 
			 University of Manchester 2,025,504 
			 Manchester Metropolitan University 608,002 
			 Middlesex University 85,990 
			 University of Newcastle upon Tyne 1,362,103 
			 University of Northumbria at Newcastle 248,850 
			 Norwich University College of the Arts 163,440 
			 University of Nottingham 294,067 
			 Nottingham Trent University 394,729 
			 Open University 67,222 
			 School of Oriental and African Studies 43,494 
			 University of Oxford 5,214,488 
			 University of Plymouth 290,031 
			 University of Portsmouth 471,721 
			 Queen Mary, University of London 463,809 
			 University of Reading 108,018 
			 Roehampton University 188,817 
			 Rose Bruford College 60,300 
			 Royal Academy of Music 69,331 
			 Royal Agricultural College 148,120 
			 Royal College of Art 40,199 
			 Royal College of Music 117,208 
			 Royal Holloway, University of London 317,989 
			 Royal Veterinary College 86,848 
			 St. Mary's University College 26,757 
			 University of Salford 338,176 
			 University of Sheffield 843,098 
			 Sheffield Hallam University 325,445 
			 University of Southampton 168,997 
			 Southampton Solent University 14,106 
			 University of Sunderland 159,216 
			 University of Surrey 14,085 
			 University of Teesside 134,593 
			 Thames Valley University 5,531 
			 Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance 94,026 
			 University College London 1,528,978 
			 University of Warwick 9,224 
			 University of the West of England, Bristol 184,194 
			 University of Westminster 197,284 
			 University of Winchester 113,695 
			 University of Wolverhampton 58,151 
			 Writtle College 40,291 
			 University of York 380,918 
			 York St. John University 415,591

Higher Education: Qualifications

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many students  (a) commenced and  (b) completed HNC/HND qualification courses in each year since 2000;
	(2)  how many students  (a) commenced and  (b) completed a foundation degree course in each year since 2000.

David Lammy: The latest available information from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is shown in tables 1 and 2. Figures for 2008/09 will be available in January 2010.
	Table 1 shows the number of students who commenced HNC, HND and foundation degrees in each year since 2000. The figures exclude the Open University due to inconsistencies in their entrants' data.
	Table 2 shows the number of students who qualified at HNC, HND and foundation degrees in each year since 2000. These figures do include the Open University as qualifier data are consistent with other institutions.
	Foundation degrees did not commence until the 2001/02 academic year, therefore figures for 2000/01 are not available.
	Figures in tables 1 and 2 cover students studying at higher education institutions only and do not include students registered for HND, HNC and foundation degree courses at further education colleges.
	The Higher Education Funding Council for England produces a regular report on Foundation degrees, which covers entrants to both English HEIs and English Further education colleges
	http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2008/08_16/
	However, figures in their report do not cover qualifiers. To demonstrate the volume of students studying at FECs, table 4 of the HEFCE report shows that approximately one quarter of entrants to foundation degrees in 2005/06 were registered at English FECs.
	
		
			  Table 1:  HND, HNC  and foundation degree entrants( 1) .  UK higher education institutions( 2) . A cademic years 2000/01 to 2007/08 
			  Academic year  HND  HNC  Foundation degree 
			 2000/01 25,905 11,155 n/a 
			 2001/02 25,830 13,050 3,135 
			 2002/03 21,380 10,900 8,250 
			 2003/04 17,285 9,870 12,955 
			 2004/05 14,250 9,265 17,290 
			 2005/06 11,725 8,600 22,175 
			 2006/07 9,545 8,580 26,455 
			 2007/08 8,600 8,810 32,580 
			 n/a = Not available. Foundation degrees did not commence until the 2001/02 academic year. (1) Covers entrants from all domiciles, to both full-time and part-time courses. (2) Excludes the Open University due to inconsistencies in their coding of entrants across the time series.  Note: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded to the nearest five.  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: HND, HNC and foundation degree qualifiers( 1) .( ) UK higher education institutions. Academic years 2000/01 to 2007/08 
			  Academic year  HND  HNC  Foundation degree 
			 2000/01 14,010 5,510 n/a 
			 2001/02 14,110 6,315 150 
			 2002/03 13,770 6,205 1,110 
			 2003/04 11,235 6,215 3,135 
			 2004/05 9,665 5,930 6,175 
			 2005/06 7,765 5,380 9,275 
			 2006/07 6,435 4,780 11,635 
			 2007/08 5,830 5,040 14,975 
			 n/a = Not available. Foundation degrees did not commence until the 2001/02 academic year. (1) Covers qualifiers from all domiciles, from both full-time and part-time courses.  Note: Figures are based on a HESA qualifications obtained population and have been rounded to the nearest five.  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Insolvency

Michael Weir: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to encourage greater transparency in the insolvency sector.

Ian Lucas: I consider that the steps already taken by The Insolvency Service address this issue. In June this year The Insolvency Service published the first Review of Insolvency Practitioner Regulation, which the service intends to publish annually. The review sets out the essential features of the regulatory regime that governs insolvency practitioners; what the public and businesses can expect from it and what the service and the other regulators are doing to improve it.
	In July the service also published a review of the operation of Statement of Insolvency Practice 16 (SIP 16) on pre-packaged sales in administrations. SIP 16 is intended to ensure that creditors are given sufficient information to understand the circumstances surrounding the decision to sell the company's assets and the reasons why the particular course of action was adopted by the practitioner.
	I also welcome the announcement by the Office of Fair Trading made on 12 November 2009 that it was to carry out a study into the corporate insolvency market.

Insolvency

Michael Weir: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how long on average it took for an insolvency case to be settled in the latest period for which figures are available.

Ian Lucas: Following the introduction of the Enterprise Act 2002, an administration has a statutory time limit of 12 months, although this may be extended with the permission of the court or by the agreement of creditors. Research funded by the Insolvency Service suggests that the average duration of an administration is around one year. That same research suggests that the average duration of an administrative receivership is around 18 months.
	Liquidations do not have a statutory time limit, but research conducted by the Insolvency Service suggests that the average length of a liquidation is around two to two and a half years.
	The Enterprise Act 2002 also introduced a statutory 12-month time limit for bankruptcy, and provides for even earlier discharge in some cases.
	The World Bank Doing Business Report 2009 ranks the UK joint out of 155 countries for the speed with which it deals with troubled businesses.

Insolvency

Michael Weir: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans his Department has to review the regulation of the Insolvency Service.

Ian Lucas: At present operation of The Insolvency Service is regulated through the requirement to produce, and lay in Parliament, an annual corporate plan, as well as annual fees orders, which sets the fees charged by official receivers for the work they carry out in dealing with bankruptcy and insolvency case administration. For The Services' work in company investigation and enforcement, and redundancy payments, funding is set through allocations made from BIS and HMRC respectively and the level of this allocation is made in response to submissions from The Service to each Department, as part of their wider budget setting.
	For all areas of The Service, The Corporate Plan sets out its vision for delivering services for the next three years, with particular emphasis on its plans and targets for the coming year. The Plan is reviewed by BIS to ensure that its goals are realistic and that targets are achievable within the resources available, and yet are set at a level to stretch the organisation and not allow complacency. Performance against the targets and budgets thus set is reported to the Minister on a quarterly basis.
	There are no plans to make substantive changes to this reporting process.

Insolvency: Fees and Charges

Michael Weir: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what regulation his Department undertakes of the level of fees charged by insolvency practitioners.

Ian Lucas: The Insolvency Service does not regulate the level of fees charged by insolvency practitioners.
	Insolvency legislation sets out how the remuneration of an office holder (liquidator/administrator/trustee etc.) is to be fixed and provides that such remuneration shall be fixed by reference to the time properly given to the case, or as a percentage of the assets which are realised and distributed. In most insolvency cases it is for the liquidation or creditors' committee to determine the basis for fixing the remuneration or, in the absence of such a committee, the creditors decide the matter.
	Although the court can review fees charged by insolvency practitioners the proposed amendments to the insolvency rules, which are due to come into force in April next year, include provisions that will enable creditors to obtain further information and thereby make it easier for greater scrutiny of office-holders' remuneration and expenses. The amendments also make it clearer how to challenge such remuneration and expenses.
	As the amount of remuneration is subject to review by the court, my noble Friend the Secretary of State has no powers to regulate the amount of remuneration charged. I welcome the announcement by the Office of Fair Trading made on 12 November 2009 that it is to undertake a market study into the corporate insolvency market.

Insolvency: Licensing

Michael Weir: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many licensed insolvency practitioners there are.

Ian Lucas: There were 1,738 licensed insolvency practitioners as at 1 January, which is the most recent figure available.

Insolvency: Licensing

Michael Weir: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many insolvency practitioners have had their licences withdrawn in each of the last 10 years.

Ian Lucas: The number of insolvency practitioners that have had their licences withdrawn in each of the last 10 years is set out in tabular form as follows:
	
		
			   Number of licences withdrawn 
			 1999 3 
			 2000 3 
			 2001 1 
			 2002 1 
			 2003 3 
			 2004 5 
			 2005 4 
			 2006 2 
			 2007 1 
			 2008 3

Limited Liability Partnerships: Company Accounts

John Penrose: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills for what reasons limited liability partnerships do not have access to the webfiling service provided by Companies House.

Ian Lucas: Companies House has developed a WebFiling service which caters for a core range of high volume filing transactions. Over time it plans to expand this service to cover 100 per cent. of the information filed, not only by limited companies but also by limited liability partnerships (LLPs).
	Over the last four years Companies House's IT resources have been concentrated on delivering two complex and mission-critical projects: to replace an aging mainframe database and to implement the Companies Act 2006.
	The new Act came fully into effect in October and Companies House is now developing further enhancements to its services, including e-filing options for LLPs. These are timetabled for implementation in spring 2010.

Postcodes

John Pugh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the merits of making the Royal Mail postcode database freely accessible for  (a) not-for-profit and  (b) profitable use.

Patrick McFadden: The Postcode Address File (PAF) dataset was designed and engineered by Royal Mail and is owned and managed by the company as a commercial asset of the business. Under Section 116 of the Postal Services Act 2000, Royal Mail must maintain the PAF and make it available to any person who wishes to use it on such terms as are reasonable. This requirement is replicated as a condition of Royal Mail's licence issued and monitored by the postal regulator, Postcomm. Provision exists for Royal Mail to recover a reasonable charge for the supply of PAF and it must not impose any term or condition other than reasonable restrictions to safeguard its intellectual property rights (IPR) and to ensure that the PAF and its updates are used to support effective addressing.
	Postcomm carried out a consultation on the PAF in 2006, which took all the diverse uses of the PAF into account before reaching its decision in 2007, announcing more safeguards for the management of the address information held in the PAF with the aim of making sure that the PAF is maintained properly and made available on fair and reasonable terms. The findings of the consultation can be found on Postcomm's website:
	www.psc.gov.uk

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Emissions: Buildings

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether energy companies may count interest free loans which they provide for the greening of community buildings against their carbon emission reduction targets.

Joan Ruddock: No. CERT is an obligation on electricity on household gas and electricity suppliers to promote CO2 reductions in the GB household sector only.

Carbon Emissions: Housing

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department plans to spend on steps to achieve the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target in  (a) 2009-10,  (b) 2010-11,  (c) 2011-12,  (d) 2012-13 and  (e) 2013-14; and what estimate he has made of the (i) proportion of such expenditure to be incurred in England, (ii) the carbon savings to be achieved, (iii) the number of properties affected and (iv) the number of jobs created from such expenditure in each year.

Joan Ruddock: The Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) is a GB-wide obligation on electricity and gas suppliers with more than 50,000 customers to achieve 185mt CO2 savings in the domestic sector. It runs from April 2008 to March 2011. The costs of the scheme fall to energy suppliers. The Government estimate that the cost to suppliers of meeting the obligation over the three years is £3.2 billion.
	Energy suppliers contract with third party installers, primarily insulators, to source and supply these measures on their behalf. By March 2009 suppliers had achieved 55.3mt CO2 savings, reaching over one million households with insulation measures alone. CERT supports the full spectrum of energy efficiency measures and independent estimates from November 2008 (Element Energy: An Assessment of the size of the UK household energy efficiency market) showed that there are 50,000 people directly involved in the domestic energy efficiency products and services market (with a much larger number c.900,000 in supporting areas).

Climate Change

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials from his Department he expects to (i) attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and (ii) travel to that conference by air; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of such travel.

Joan Ruddock: The UK delegation to the UNFCCC conference in Copenhagen has not yet been finalised, however, the current list identifies two Ministers and 36 officials from the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
	At present 19 delegates have confirmed their intention to travel to the conference by air. This is necessary as the rail options are limited, and inflexible. As delegates will be working around the clock many individuals have fixed appointments that set fixed boundaries to their possible travel times. Not all delegates have made their travel arrangements as of yet. DECC has estimated up to £17,500 for the total cost of travel for all UK delegates attending the conference. The cumulative cost so far is well below this figure.

Renewable Energy

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether the biomass to be deployed in his Department's renewable energy strategy will be compliant with the Searchinger factor.

Joan Ruddock: The biofuels and bioliquids used to deliver the UK's 15 per cent. renewable energy target by 2020 will be required to meet the sustainability criteria set under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). These criteria include consideration of direct land use change but not indirect land use change.
	However, the Directive places a requirement on the European Commission to submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council, by 31 December 2010, reviewing the impact of indirect land use change on greenhouse gas emissions and addressing ways to minimise that impact.
	In addition, the European Commission is due to report on requirements for a sustainability scheme for energy uses of biomass, other than biofuels and bioliquids, by 31 December 2009.

Written Questions: Government Responses

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change for what reasons Question  (a) 245083 and  (b) 245084 on the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000, tabled on 15 December 2008, were not answered in the last session; what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all Questions tabled by hon. Members for ordinary written answer are answered within a working week; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: Prior to DECC setting up its own Parliamentary Unit at the end of January 2009, parliamentary questions were answered by either BIS (previously BERR) and DEFRA's Parliamentary Units. The questions referred to were the responsibility of DEFRA's Parliamentary Unit. According to their records they have no record of having received these questions.
	The Department's target is to answer 70 per cent. of Written Questions within five working days. The Department monitors its performance against this target and keeps its procedures under review.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

UK School Games

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children have competed in the UK School Games in each year in which they have been staged; and what the cost of staging those games was in each such year.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
	The UK School Games is a multi-sport competition organised by the Youth Sport Trust for school-aged children and acts at the pinnacle of a wider competition pathway. The Youth Sport Trust has advised that the total cost and numbers of competitors in each UK School Games since its conception, is as follows:
	 Glasgow 2006
	1,100 competitors across five sports at the four-day event
	Total year round cost of UK School Games: £2.036 million
	 Coventry 2007
	1,350 competitors across eight sports
	Total year round cost of UK School Games: £2.89 million
	 Bristol and Bath 2008
	1,470 competitors across nine sports
	Total year round cost of UK School Games: £3.26 million
	 South Wales 2009
	1,523 competitors across 10 sports
	Total year round cost of UK School Games: £3.30 million (estimated final cost).

HOME DEPARTMENT

Police: Pay

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was paid in salary and wage costs for police forces in the last 12 months; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of that paid to police officers and civilian police force staff who earn more than £50,000 per annum.

David Hanson: Approximately £10,901,841,000(1) was paid in salary and wage costs for police forces in England and Wales in 2008-09.
	Information on the proportion paid to police officers and staff who earn more than £50,000 per annum is not available.
	(1) Figures taken from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) are 2008-09 provisional actuals.

CABINET OFFICE

Departmental Air Travel

Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many domestic flights within Great Britain officials from her Department took in an official capacity in 2008-09; and at what cost to the public purse.

Dawn Butler: It is not possible to readily identify from the Department's accounting system the amount and cost of domestic air travel by Cabinet Office officials in 2008-09. This information is available only at disproportionate cost.

Employment

James Clappison: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of  (a) UK nationals,  (b) UK-born people,  (c) foreign nationals,  (d) non-UK EU nationals,  (e) EU A8 nationals and  (f) non-EU nationals (i) aged over 16 years and (ii) of working age were in employment in the UK in each of the last four quarters for which figures are available; and what the percentage change in each category was in each of the last four quarters.

Dawn Butler: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply to the hon. Member. A copy of their response will be placed in the Library.

Members: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when she plans to reply to that part of the letter of 8 October 2009 from the hon. Member for Walsall North which was transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions, concerning a constituent and the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

Tessa Jowell: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 19 November.

Unemployment: Young People

James Clappison: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of young people aged between  (a) 16 and 17 and  (b) 18 and 24 years were unemployed in each (i) year since 1987 and (ii) of the last four quarters for which figures are available; and what estimate she has made of the number of students looking for part-time or vacation work included in those figures.

Dawn Butler: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply to the hon. Member. A copy of their response will be placed in the Library.

JUSTICE

Driving under Influence: Convictions

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many drivers convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in each police authority area in each year since 1999 had previous convictions for the same offence.

Claire Ward: The information requested is shown in the following tables. However, figures for 1999 are not available.
	These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer (PNC), which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.
	
		
			  Number of drivers convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs( 1)  in England and Wales (2000-08) with a previous conviction for the same offence 
			   2000  2001  2002 
			   No. of drivers convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol/ drugs  No. of these drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence  % of drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence  No. of drivers convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol/ drugs  No. of these drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence  % of drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence  No. of drivers convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol/ drugs  No. of these drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence  % of drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence 
			 Avon and Somerset 2,389 434 18.17 2,167 472 21.78 2,336 506 21.66 
			 Bedfordshire 762 159 20.87 883 181 20.50 932 220 23.61 
			 Cambridgeshire 766 117 15.27 822 148 18.00 871 167 19.17 
			 Cheshire 1,594 246 15.43 1,610 253 15.71 1,893 376 19.86 
			 City of London 179 19 10.61 165 23 13.94 226 35 15.49 
			 Cleveland 742 99 1334 821 129 15.71 867 181 20.88 
			 Cumbria 768 102 13.28 747 131 17.54 740 136 18.38 
			 Derbyshire 1,351 188 13.92 1,341 231 17.23 1,399 276 19.73 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2,162 308 14.25 2,351 393 16.72 2,436 489 20.07 
			 Dorset 1,051 158 15.03 1,087 212 19.50 1,138 222 19.51 
			 Durham 1,083 157 14.50 1,051 189 17.98 1,121 242 21.59 
			 Dyfed-Powys 796 114 14.32 854 169 19.79 889 168 18.90 
			 Essex 2,387 371 15.54 2,377 409 17.21 2,468 470 19.04 
			 Gloucestershire 793 141 17.78 862 150 17.40 927 205 22.11 
			 Greater Manchester 4,552 811 17.82 4,489 936 20.85 4,490 1,003 2234 
			 Gwent 1,140 203 17.81 1,082 201 18.58 1,025 241 23.51 
			 Hampshire 3,333 528 15.84 3,369 574 17.04 3,702 794 21.45 
			 Hertfordshire 1,517 252 16.61 1,647 281 17.06 1,902 345 18.14 
			 Humberside 1,292 193 14.94 1,339 229 17.10 1,381 258 18.68 
			 Kent 2,568 391 15.23 2,708 507 18.72 2,856 529 18.52 
			 Lancashire 2,475 399 16.12 2,232 407 18.23 2,532 545 21.52 
			 Leicestershire 1,446 254 17.57 1,438 283 19.68 1,574 316 20.08 
			 Lincolnshire 784 154 19.64 849 150 17.67 822 173 21.05 
			 Merseyside 2,275 403 17.71 2,299 447 19.44 2,445 558 22.82 
			 Metropolitan Police 10,896 1,549 14.22 10,634 1,862 17.51 12,109 2,307 19.05 
			 Norfolk 1,074 154 14.34 1,118 183 16.37 1,230 214 17.40 
			 North Wales 1,263 172 13.62 1,177 191 16.23 1,208 253 20.94 
			 North Yorkshire 1,046 114 10.90 1,032 160 15.50 1,124 182 16.19 
			 Northamptonshire 1,102 206 18.69 1,078 201 18.65 1,016 241 23.72 
			 Northumbria 2,535 451 17.79 2,439 509 20.87 2,533 572 22.58 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,635 262 16.02 1,504 314 20.88 1,340 302 22.54 
			 South Wales 2,526 536 21.22 2,608 572 21.93 2,602 660 25.37 
			 South Yorkshire 2,010 476 23.68 1,950 475 24.36 1,856 449 24.19 
			 Staffordshire 1,568 219 13.97 1,528 246 16.10 1,639 317 1934 
			 Suffolk 863 112 12.98 916 145 15.83 1,080 203 18.80 
			 Surrey 1,510 178 11.79 1,694 235 13.87 1,650 295 17.88 
			 Sussex 2,062 313 15.18 2,279 332 14.57 2,252 423 18.78 
			 Thames Valley 3,426 529 15.44 3,416 590 17.27 4,268 814 19.07 
			 Warwickshire 753 103 13.68 851 112 13.16 820 143 17.44 
			 West Mercia 1,603 221 13.79 1,667 272 16.32 1,698 314 18.49 
			 West Midlands 4,337 860 19.83 4,730 1,011 21.37 4,793 1,148 23.95 
			 West Yorkshire 3,232 542 16.77 3,150 605 19.21 3,463 691 19.95 
			 Wiltshire 853 101 11.84 950 151 15.89 930 169 18.17 
			 Grand total 82,499 13,299 16.12 83,311 15,271 18.33 88,583 18,152 20.49 
		
	
	
		
			   2003  2004  2005 
			  Force  No. of drivers convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol/ drugs  No. of these drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence  % of drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence  No. of drivers convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol/ drugs  No. of these drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence  % of drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence  No. of drivers convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol/ drugs  No. of these drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence  % of drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence 
			 Avon and Somerset 2,571 629 24.47 2,582 628 24.32 2,555 614 24.03 
			 Bedfordshire 1,058 261 24.67 1,051 233 22.17 1,033 250 24.20 
			 Cambridgeshire 957 213 22.26 1,113 221 19.86 1,295 272 21.00 
			 Cheshire 1,807 358 19.81 2,065 404 19.56 1,687 371 21.99 
			 City of London 238 31 13.03 174 33 18.97 208 42 20.19 
			 Cleveland 913 194 21.25 1,028 221 21.50 933 210 22.51 
			 Cumbria 824 137 16.63 873 180 20.62 830 154 18.55 
			 Derbyshire 1,558 332 21.31 1,822 362 19.87 1,614 332 20.57 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2,670 558 20.90 2,533 538 21.24 2,455 499 20.33 
			 Dorset 1,235 276 22.35 1,219 278 22.81 1,213 284 23.41 
			 Durham 1,128 253 22.43 1,248 311 24.92 1,118 247 22.09 
			 Dyfed-Powys 931 194 20.84 944 196 20.76 930 212 22.80 
			 Essex 2,567 582 22.67 2,733 626 22.91 2,523 609 24.14 
			 Gloucestershire 897 177 19.73 939 221 23.54 816 183 22.43 
			 Greater Manchester 4,567 1,079 23.63 4,730 1,182 24.99 4,528 1,156 25.53 
			 Gwent 1,078 253 23.47 1,109 266 23.99 1,030 263 25.53 
			 Hampshire 3,712 813 21.90 3,627 878 24.21 3,367 762 22.63 
			 Hertfordshire 1,855 388 20.92 1,830 386 21.09 1,837 419 22.81 
			 Humberside 1,496 327 21.86 1,558 329 21.12 1,553 356 22.92 
			 Kent 2,930 634 21.64 2,871 646 22.50 2,776 639 23.02 
			 Lancashire 2,554 560 21.93 2,609 576 22.08 2,636 636 24.13 
			 Leicestershire 1,622 386 23.80 1,593 368 23.10 1,507 354 23.49 
			 Lincolnshire 1,087 235 21.62 1,169 253 21.64 1,162 224 19.28 
			 Merseyside 2,633 586 22.26 2,651 647 24.41 2,763 695 25.15 
			 Metropolitan Police 12,084 2,510 20.77 12,822 2,849 22.22 12,434 2,690 21.63 
			 Norfolk 1,237 270 21.83 1,215 248 20.41 1,235 270 21.86 
			 North Wales 1,304 265 20.32 1,319 302 22.90 1,341 275 20.51 
			 North Yorkshire 1,205 231 19.17 1,164 196 16.84 1,260 238 18.89 
			 Northamptonshire 996 242 24.30 938 234 24.95 861 192 22.30 
			 Northumbria 2,678 662 24.72 2,576 598 23.21 2,498 603 24.14 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,582 399 25.22 1,600 387 24.19 1,653 416 25.17 
			 South Wales 2,751 740 26.90 2,703 732 27.08 2,783 705 25.33 
			 South Yorkshire 2,021 442 21.87 2,125 536 25.22 2,147 515 23.99 
			 Staffordshire 1,678 334 19.90 1,755 383 21.82 1,703 368 21.61 
			 Suffolk 1,153 228 19.77 1,243 245 19.71 1,053 240 22.79 
			 Surrey 1,458 279 19.14 1,506 298 19.79 1,534 330 21.51 
			 Sussex 2,375 483 20.34 2,446 519 21.22 2,329 514 22.07 
			 Thames Valley 4,015 802 19.98 3,609 808 22.39 3,417 775 22.68 
			 Warwickshire 885 159 17.97 826 173 20.94 844 183 21.68 
			 West Mercia 1,793 332 18.52 1,778 392 22.05 1,896 408 21.52 
			 West Midlands 5,022 1,315 26.18 5,375 1,460 27.16 5,485 1,472 26.84 
			 West Yorkshire 3,645 828 22.72 3,821 899 23.53 3,794 901 23.75 
			 Wiltshire 935 163 17.43 939 194 20.66 955 195 20.42 
			 Grand total 91,705 20,140 21.96 93,831 21,436 22.85 91,591 21,073 23.01 
		
	
	
		
			   2006  2007  2008 
			  Force  No.  of drivers convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol/ drugs  No.  of these drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence  %  of drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence  No.  of drivers convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol/ drugs  No.  of these drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence  %  of drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence  No.  of drivers convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol/ drugs  No.  of these drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence  %  of drivers with a previous conviction for the same offence 
			 Avon and Somerset 2,455 599 24.40 2,417 592 24.49 2,198 571 25.98 
			 Bedfordshire 1,090 264 24.22 1,023 271 26.49 879 233 26.51 
			 Cambridgeshire 1,286 272 21.15 1,231 274 22.26 1,064 259 24.34 
			 Cheshire 1,900 430 22.63 1,884 443 23.51 1,630 368 22.58 
			 City of London 181 25 13.81 195 38 19.49 145 27 18.62 
			 Cleveland 1,007 204 20.26 945 238 25.19 980 236 24.08 
			 Cumbria 838 153 18.26 845 163 19.29 739 162 21.92 
			 Derbyshire 1,503 326 21.69 1,437 335 23.31 1,287 294 22.84 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2,518 535 21.25 2,475 567 22.91 2,240 539 24.06 
			 Dorset 1,228 274 22.31 1,205 293 24.32 1,048 240 22.90 
			 Durham 955 243 25.45 1,004 259 25.80 929 233 25.08 
			 Dyfed-Powys 891 200 22.45 878 186 21.18 795 202 25.41 
			 Essex 2,663 615 23.09 2,523 591 23.42 2,382 583 24.48 
			 Gloucestershire 831 197 23.71 828 204 24.64 797 182 22.84 
			 Greater Manchester 4,328 1,049 24.24 4,297 1,083 25.20 3,861 924 23.93 
			 Gwent 1,103 268 24.30 1,007 258 25.62 964 236 24.48 
			 Hampshire 3,003 692 23.04 2,913 699 24.00 2,675 653 24.41 
			 Hertfordshire 1,867 446 23.89 1,892 426 22.52 1,665 407 24.44 
			 Humberside 1,550 340 21.94 1,410 353 25.04 1,360 296 21.76 
			 Kent 2,769 661 23.87 2,842 637 22.41 2,496 623 24.96 
			 Lancashire 2,703 636 23.53 2,684 598 22.28 2,441 571 23.39 
			 Leicestershire 1,379 326 23.64 1,424 342 24.02 1,233 320 25.95 
			 Lincolnshire 1,230 270 21.95 1,207 258 21.38 1,153 260 22.55 
			 Merseyside 2,553 649 25.42 2,299 544 23.66 2,019 514 25.46 
			 Metropolitan Police 12,578 2,720 21.63 11,850 2,686 22.67 11,263 2,721 24.16 
			 Norfolk 1,310 299 22.82 1,249 309 24.74 1,061 257 24.22 
			 North Wales 1,327 283 21.33 1,280 268 20.94 1,108 247 22.29 
			 North Yorkshire 1,272 246 19.34 1,220 258 21.15 1,154 213 18.46 
			 Northamptonshire 1,020 240 23.53 1,123 256 22.80 1,052 238 22.62 
			 Northumbria 2,529 626 24.75 2,457 576 23.44 2,307 603 26.14 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,658 404 24.37 1,617 363 22.45 1,495 355 23.75 
			 South Wales 2,768 710 25.65 2,585 670 25.92 2,445 636 26.01 
			 South Yorkshire 1,977 516 26.10 2,000 504 25.20 1,914 464 24.24 
			 Staffordshire 1,666 350 21.01 1,729 396 22.90 1,671 366 21.90 
			 Suffolk 1,098 245 22.31 1,010 205 20.30 884 220 24.89 
			 Surrey 1,475 312 21.15 1,502 317 21.11 1,347 273 20.27 
			 Sussex 2,473 531 21.47 2,454 612 24.94 2,138 494 23.11 
			 Thames Valley 3,362 750 22.31 3,311 816 24.65 2,959 701 23.69 
			 Warwickshire 884 183 20.70 966 225 23.29 821 206 25.09 
			 West Mercia 1,921 407 21.19 1,928 444 23.03 1,688 410 24.29 
			 West Midlands 5,440 1,457 26.78 5,311 1,471 27.70 4,574 1,338 29.25 
			 West Yorkshire 3,568 811 22.73 3,276 866 26.43 2,951 782 26.50 
			 Wiltshire 971 211 21.73 782 154 19.69 685 148 21.61 
			 Grand total 91,128 20,975 23.02 88,515 21,048 23.78 80,497 19,605 24.35 
			 (1) The data include a range of offences under the Road Traffic Act. They can be found in sections 4(1), 5(1)(a), 7(6), 4(2), 5(1) (b), 6(4) and 7A as amended by the Police Reform Act 2002 and the Transport and Works Act 2002.

Youth Custody

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people aged 18 years or under and resident in each local authority area were placed in a  (a) young offender institution,  (b) secure children's home and  (c) secure training centre in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: The Youth Justice Board (YJB) does not collect data by local authority area and the data provided are by Youth Offending Team (YOT) area. I have placed in the Libraries of the House a table that shows data on the number of times that under-18s have been placed in young offender institutions (YOIs), secure training centres (STCs) and secure children's homes (SCHs), since April 2001. Data prior to 2001 are not available in the format requested and cannot be provided without disproportionate costs. 18-year-olds are not placed in STCs or SCHs, and are placed in young adult (18-21) YOIs, separate from under-18s, and therefore data on 18-year-olds have not been included.
	The data have been provided by the YJB and are drawn from administrative computer systems. As with any large scale recording system, the data are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change over time.